April 6, 2008

Communion Meditation

The Rev. A. Thomas Carlson

Scriptures: Psalm 116

Luke 24:13-35

“Walk to Emmaus.”

What comes to mind when you hear that phrase? A spiritual weekend in another church building, a painting hanging on a study wall (three walking side by side down a scenic path), or simply the Gospel for today?

I must say all of the above have significance in the lives of Christ followers. The Emmaus account belongs to this side of Easter. It calls us to celebrate the Risen One!

Let us begin this morning by taking a quick look at the two who walk for awhile as a pair. We know the name of one, Cleopas. The other remains nameless. They had been to Jerusalem for the Passover. They came and they saw—what they saw sent them back to Emmaus full of sorrow. They had experienced their Lord—dead on a cross outside the city wall on a hill called Calvary. They talked about it and it hurt them deeply.

We read how they were joined by a third traveler and how He asked questions and then shared scripture with them and how He was invited to stay the night at Emmaus. Up to this point, the stranger remains a mystery man—even as He speaks.

Now, I’d like for us to move beyond the walk itself to what happened once the three arrived at Emmaus. I’d like for us to reflect on the change that occurred when they broke bread together. I’d like for us to see how this “Emmaus” experience continues to impact Christians today.

Some scholars speculate that the first two walkers were a man and a woman. Since women so often appear in Scripture nameless, it is altogether plausible that Cleopas’ companion was his wife! If this actually happened, then it means that the mystery man (Jesus) takes no time at all to honor this married couple in their own home on Easter night. It would be more likely than not that the woman (in the Palestine of Jesus’ day) would have urged the traveler to stay for dinner—since she did the cooking anyway. It was the hospitable thing to do!

All of this sounds “normal” except that in the middle of the meal, the guest becomes the host. He takes the bread and blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to them. As this happens, their visitor is no longer a mystery man. Luke tells us their eyes were opened. And they said to each other, “When He talked with us along the road, didn’t it warm our hearts?”

It was at the table, that they came to a deeper understanding of who Jesus is. This confirms the thought that “you can study but unless you enter into communion with them, you only know about them, you don’t know them.” Certainly it is true in this case. One commentator points out that at the Last Supper Jesus said he would not share food with His disciples until God’s kingdom came. Here He eats with these two, so the kingdom has now come! A real eye-opener!!

How do we approach Emmaus as Christ followers 2000 years later? Let’s start with Emmaus itself. I did poorly as a freshman taking Geography of the Holy Land, but I am told that its location has never been positively identified. In fact, Fredrick Buechner goes as far as to say “Emmaus was not so much a place as a state of mind.” All of this suggests that the Emmaus experience can happen wherever we are. The Road to Emmaus is whatever road we take. What makes Emmaus remembered is that it brought hope to the hopeless and new life into what appeared to be a deadening atmosphere. Two Christ followers found reason to keep the faith as they received the bread and cup from the Risen Lord.

I agree with T. S. Eliot who wrote: “But when I look ahead—there is always another one walking beside you.” I also recognize this walking companion becomes real in the “breaking of bread.” So, in the Emmaus Spirit, we celebrate the mystery of His presence on Communion Sunday. May we be sustained as we are fed and moved to share the Good News as we leave today. Amen.